Record

26-21, 5 games back of White Sox in AL Central

Pitching matchups:

Tuesday: Carlos Carrasco (2-4, 3.12) vs. Yu Darvish (7-2, 1.77 ERA)

Wednesday: Aaron Civale (3-5, 3.88 ERA) vs. Jon Lester (2-2, 5.05 ERA)

Outlook:

Cleveland is losing ground on the White Sox and fast with time winding down. They’ve been able to develop one of the best starting rotations in baseball, but their offense hasn’t followed. They rank 14^th in the American League in OPS (.680), only ahead of the Rangers. They’re at the bottom in the AL in home runs (tied with Texas at 45) and near the bottom in nearly every offensive category. On the flip side, they have the best ERA and WHIP in the AL at 3.24 and 1.091 respectively and that’s even after they traded Mike Clevinger at the deadline. Time’s running out on Cleveland to find an offense to complement their dominant pitching staff.  

Carrasco has been terrific in his last three starts, allowing 2 runs and striking out 19 in 19 innings of work, all 3 quality starts. He’s 0-1 in those three starts, as his offense has combined to score 3 runs in those two games. Civale has been solid for Cleveland all season, pitching to a 3.88 ERA and a 1.155 WHIP in 9 starts. Kansas City got to Civale in his last appearance, scoring 4 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings of work. He’s been on the unlucky side when it comes to decisions, as he’s allowed just 16 runs in his 5 losses.